Daily industrial news and top headlines for plant and maintenance managers

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — On the losing end of a $1.3 billion jury verdict for stealing a rival's intellectual property, SAP AG is facing the difficult decision about whether to double down — by appealing — or folding.
Either route is going to cost the German company dearly, and will have implications for how other technology companies approach copyrights.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — In the unlikely event that your Christmas list this year includes every item mentioned in "The Twelve Days of Christmas," be prepared to pay nearly $100,000.
Trying to buy the 364 items repeated in all the song's verses — from 12 drummers drumming to a partridge in a pear tree — would cost $96,824, an increase of 10.

MILAN (AP) — Fiat and Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne on Friday proposed a joint venture with Chrysler LLC to build Alfa Romeo and Jeep brand vehicles at Turin's Mirafiori auto plant.
But he said he needed union cooperation to make the factory more competitive.
The proposal marks the first significant step toward integration in Europe between the Italian and U.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Food and Drug Administration would have to step up inspections of food plantsunder legislation the Senate is expected to pass this week.
The bill, which has stalled in that chamber for more than a year, would give the FDA authority to order a recall of tainted products.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Bitter rivals in the candy aisle may also duke it out in court.
The Hershey Co. sued Mars Inc. this week in federal district court, with the maker of Hershey's and Reese's chocolate candies accusing the maker of Snickers, M&Ms and Dove candies of mimicking some of its packaging.

FAIRVIEW, Pa. (AP) — A worker is being treated and undergoing medical tests after he was hurt when a water line burst at a precision tool plant in northwestern Pennsylvania.
Matrix Tool president Tim Lewis says company officials still don't know whether the worker was hit with a piece of pipe, hit his head when he fell or was injured in some other way.

Plastics are everywhere in our daily lives; from the packaging that keeps our cold cuts fresh to the containers we use to store out personal items and to discard our trash. According to Anne Trafton, MIT News Office in One Word: Bioplastic , the United States produced 101.

Breaking up is a very delicate art with so many intricate details. There is the venue—do you do it over the phone or in person? If you do it in person, should you do it over dinner, or maybe something shorter like a cup of coffee? The café breakup is often a popular choice. It’s short and sweet, and let’s face it, the pang of heartbreak may be slightly lessened by ingesting legal stimulants.

When you think of the pharmaceutical industry one of the first images that comes to mind is that of the clean room operator. Covered from head-to-toe in a white garment, mask and gloves on, manipulating a piece of sophisticated equipment designed to produce the life-saving drugs we have all come to rely on.

The GilaFlex Inner-braided PVC Air Hose from Coilhose Pneumatics (East Brunswick, NJ) is the newest addition to the company’s line of high-quality hoses. The visible safety orange cover does not trap dirt and is easy to clean — according to the company — and a special blend of PVC allows the hose to lay flat on the ground or floor.

Greenlee (Rockford, IL) offers the 555 series benders and the 855GX IntelliBender. According to the company, they are designed to make consistent and accurate bends in EMT, IMC, Steel Rigid, Aluminum Rigid, Stainless Steel Rigid, and PVC Coated Steel Rigid conduit. The patent pending solid-state control system uses current-limiting technology to protect the motor and on-board electronics from a variety of job site power sources, like generators and temporary drops, as well as eliminates arcing and the potential for relay failure.

The VISE-GRIP curved jaw locking pliers from Irwin (Phoenix, AZ) feature a self-energizing lower jaw. According to the company, the jaw tightens for maximum grip as torque is applied to the tool. They are available in two core models: Fast Release, with a one-handed, triggerless release and anti-pinch, non-slip ProTouch™ Grips; and Original, with a classic trigger release.

Detcon (The Woodlands, TX) has improved its Model PI-700 Photo-ionization gas detection sensor to better manage humidity drift and surface contamination, making it more reliable and durable. The Model PI-700 is a sensor that can detect and monitor a wide range of volatile organic compounds and toxic gases in the air.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — An executive at a Lenoir furniture manufacturer has been indicted on charges that he took more than $560,000 from the company.
The Charlotte Observer reported that Andrew Geiger is accused of setting up a dummy company and billing Bernhardt Furniture Company for extra services concealed as processing fees.

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — A federal judge in California will consider a motion by Toyota Motor Corp. to dismisslawsuits that claim there are sudden acceleration defects in its cars.
U.S. District Judge James Selna will hear arguments Friday about whether he should throw out some of the hundreds of lawsuits filed since the automaker starting recalling millions of vehicles because of acceleration problems in several models and brake defects with the Prius hybrid.

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — A Toledo solar panel manufacturer opened an assembly plant in China to provide low-cost assembly while it works to automate and expand its local operations, the company's president said Thursday.
Xunlight Corp., which has received nearly $50 million in federal and state assistance to develop research and production in Toledo, just started talking publicly this week about the Chinese facility, which opened earlier this year, The Blade newspaper reported Thursday.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Defense contractor Lockheed Martin Corp. said on Thursday that it will close its Eagan, Minn. plant by 2013, eliminating or moving about 1,000 jobs.
The company makes components for the Navy's P-3 Orion anti-submarine plane at the plant.
Lockheed said 650 of the Minnesota jobs would move to Owego, N.

WEST POINT, Ga. (AP) — Kia Motors plans to hire another 1,000 workers at its west Georgia plant.
Kia on Thursday opened the online application process for prospective employees for its plant in West Point, which is near the Alabama state line.
The plant officially opened earlier this year and, as of September, had produced about 100,000 Kia Sorrento SUVs.

NEW YORK (AP) — General Motors returned to Wall Street with the satisfying roar of a muscle car's engine, embraced by traders at the New York Stock Exchange who stood in a crowd eight deep for the chance to buy a piece of a resurrected American icon.
Elsewhere, the moment was more complex.

A Wisconsin-based manufacturer has spent the last decade developing and trying to perfect a methodology for producing a certain product at a significantly lower cost.
Before a potato hits the dinner plate, it may have taken six to eight years of development to get there.
Among the thousands of varieties of potatoes, characteristics like size, color, solid-matter content, and starch type can all vary, and they are appealing to producers and consumers for their respective characteristics.